Welcome to room 18's class website!

Feel free to contact me via email at st_rbaumann@smfcsd.org or call me using ext. 6646.

THANK YOU to ALL of you for your continuous help and support inside and outside our classroom!!! Your generosity and support helps EVERY student in room 18 succeed!!!

Weekly News...

 IMPORTANT DATES:

MAY:

5/4     4th Grade Picture

5/7-11  Staff Appreciation Week

5/10    PTA Meeting, 7pm

5/11    Morning with Mom, 8am

5/14-18  Right to Read Week

5/14    BOE Meeting, HS, 6pm

5/17    Marco's Pizza Night

5/23    PTA Installation Banquet, 6:30pm

5/24    Market Day Pick-Up, 5:30-6:30pm

5/25    4th Grade Farewell, 1-3pm

5/28    NO SCHOOL- Memorial Day

5/29    BOE, HS, 7pm

5/30    4th Grade Talent Show, 2pm

5/31    Awards Assembly, 10am

JUNE:

6/1    LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

6/1    Field Day

Announcements...

The warm weather expectations for school attire are as follows:

Tank tops are not permitted unless the straps have a width of about 3 adult fingers (general rule of thumb).

Flip flops are not permitted for Physical Education or Recess; students must have a change of shoes and it is not a CHOICE as to whether they bring a change of shoes.

Shorts should fall at or below fingertip length.

From Mrs. Obraza:

Teachers have begun preparing students’ class placements for next school year. We want you to know how much time and thoughtful consideration is given to the individual needs of each child. The students’ best interests are of utmost importance as the school staff focuses on placing each child within a classroom environment and among classmates that will foster the greatest success for each student. Because this consideration is given to our 350+ students, I ask that parents refrain from submitting requests for specific teachers. Thank you for your understanding.

All parents who drop off children during the morning arrival time, must do so at the school’s side entrance doors only. Please do not drop off children across the street from the school or in the front of the building. Thank you for following correct drop-off procedures.

The Stow Lions Club is collecting gently used eyeglasses to donate to individuals in need. There will be a collection box outside the school office. Please consider donating any spare/no longer used pairs of glasses. Thank you!

CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSH AND REILEY FOR BEING VOTED AS ROOM 18'S STUDENT COUNCIL MEMBERS!! YOU WILL BOTH DO A FANTASTIC JOB REPRESENTING THIRD GRADE!! :))

CONGRATULATIONS TO JOSH FOR BEING CHOSEN AS THE FISHCREEK THIRD GRADE WINNER OF THE STOW FIRE DEPARTMENT SAFETY POSTER CONTEST AND LAUREN FOR HONORABLE MENTION!!! YOU BOTH DID A FANTASTIC JOB AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO SUBMITTED YOUR POSTERS!! :))

**Several students are forgetting their snack on a DAILY basis. Please be sure to pack a snack for them so they are not without one while the rest of us are enjoying our own. Thank you!

***For Birthday Treats, please refrain from sending in anything edible. We have several different (and some severe) food allergies, and it would therefore result in too many students not enjoying the same treat. If you decide to send anything in, you could do party hats, pencils, a book for the class, even their favorite game from home and we could play indoor during our afternoon recess, etc. Thank you for your understanding!

Progress Book has been updated and will show the most recent grades for your child.  I will select "missing" for any missing assignment either because it was never turned in or was turned in without a name and never claimed.  ** YOUR LOGIN INFORMATION REMAINS THE SAME AS THE PREVIOUS YEAR, SO IF YOU STILL HAVE THAT INFO, IT WILL ALLOW YOU TO LOGIN. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THAT INFORMATION YET OR ANYMORE, LOOK FOR THAT WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. THANK YOU!**

Study Island will be updated as well. Please let me know if you have any difficulty logging in.

As you begin using Study Island, please remember NOT to reset your password. I can email anyone who needs their password sent to them. Thank you! :))

·      READ, READ,  READ!!!   Don’t forget to send in your child’s monthly reading calendar, which includes 20 minutes of reading every day during the week and one hour every weekend! 

YOUR CHILD'S LAST MILLION MINUTES CALENDARS WERE DUE ON TUESDAY, MAY 1st. The best way to keep track of the calendar is to keep it inside their orange take-home folder.

Remember that you can place your scholastic book orders online by using the code GVXTQ.  Each time an online order is made, our class receives a FREE BOOK!  Look for April's order forms coming home soon!

Thank you to the wonderful parents that have signed up to help throughout the year. I appreciate ALL that you do for ALL of us! :) If your availability changes, just let me know. I have made copies of a master calendar and sent a copy home with your child on Friday, September 9. Thanks again!
 

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What’s happenig in...
Language Arts:  This week we will read, "Rocking and Rolling." We will be working on using book parts to locate information; read and understand a free-verse poem; recognize and understand the various tenses of irregular verbs; use figurative language and imagery to write a poem; write contractions correctly. Our spelling tests and vocabulary quizzes are usually on Fridays.

**NEW!!** Here are some literacy websites you can use for reinforcement at home!

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews (lists books for all ages, with a synopsis, rating, and parental thoughts about each book)

http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/providing-a-literacy-rich-home-environment.htm (tips for making literacy a priority at home)

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/fluency (defines reading fluency so parents know what to look for)

http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target/comprehension (defines comprehension, and what it means from a child's perspective, a parent's perspective, and a teacher's perspective)

Science/Social Studies: 

We have concluded our Social Studies unit on Cultures this week.

Topics/vocabulary that will be introduced during our Cultures unit are:

culture
country
custom
religion
language
diversity
heritage
community
international
ancestors

We will begin our LAST Science unit on Rocks, Minerals, and Soil! We will learn about: fossils, properties of rocks and minerals, soil, layers of rock, sand, and clay.

Math:

We have continued to work in our workbooks, which are being kept at school. From time to time, your child may tear out a page or two for homework, but it is important to leave the workbook at school because we will be using them on a daily basis. We will also be working from Buckle Down workbooks that will be kept at school.

We have started our seventh, "Finding Fair Shares" where we will:

• Work with unit fractions, looking at parts that make up a single whole as well as sets of objects that ar a fraction of a group
• Begin to use fractions with numerators greater than one
• Build knowledge of fraction equivalencies as they represent whole and fractional quantities with pattern blocks
• Introduce decimals (0.50 and 0.25) in context of money
• Compare decimals with their fractional equivalents
• Continue to build repertoire of notations to represent equivalent quantities

Your child has been bringing home plenty to study/review for each test and can also use the handbook that you received during conferences. Our test on Unit 7 will be this week.

Please continue to practice addition and subtraction facts with your child.  It's also never a bad idea to practice telling time to the minute, counting money, estimating, and working on place value!

For added support, please refer to these websites:

Helpful mathematics websites for grades K to 4

http://www.smfcsd.org/math/inds.htm

Stow-Munroe Falls City Schools Investigations home page (This site provides homework help for most lessons in the units as well as other information about the program.)

http://investigations.terc.edu/families/

Investigations site for families (This website was designed by the authors to answer questions that students and parents might have. If you are primarily looking for ways to help your child with homework, this site offers support; click on the “Helping Your Child” link on the left for more links.)

http://mathforum.org/dr.math/

Math Forum: Ask Dr. Math (A page in which mathematicians provide reader-friendly answers to hundreds of questions about K-12 mathematics content – a very helpful site! – also check out the Math Forum home page for many other resources.)

http://ohio3-8.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/

ODE Success Website for students and families (This website provides public access to three sections: What's Expected of Students, Practice for the Test, where students can actually take sample tests online, and Understand Test Results.)

http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html

National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Activities in every grade band and standard – each has instructions and possible tasks for students to complete. Good for individual work.)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/

BBC Education site for Mathematics (A British site for all content areas with many useful resources and great interactive sites for kids)

http://stretchybrain.org/

Stretchy Brain (A collection of games in several content areas, particularly for K-4)

http://www.dupagechildrensmuseum.org/aunty/index.html

Aunty Math (mathematical challenges for K-5 students)

http://www.amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

A Mathematics Dictionary for Kids (An interactive math dictionary with over 500 terms. Neat!)

http://www.mathplayground.com/

Math Playground (Provides various games that children in elementary and middle school can play to learn math concepts in a fun way)

http://www.mathplayground.com/mathtv.html

Math TV (Part of Math Playground, this site provides brief animated videos that explain solutions to various types of problems. Neat!)

http://www.mathplayground.com/thinkingblocks.html

Thinking Blocks (Part of Math Playground, this site provides great interactive models that students can use for solving word problems)

http://www.visualfractions.com/Games.htm

Visual Fractions (Provides games for learning about fractions visually)

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/addition.html (A variety of games for practicing addition facts)

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/subtraction.html (A variety of games for practicing subtraction facts)

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/mult.html  (A variety of games for practicing multiplication facts)

http://www.fun4thebrain.com/division.html (A variety of games for practicing division facts)

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